Equinor has awarded contracts to three consortia to provide design proposals for the H2H Saltend hydrogen production plant it is planning to build in the Humber region.
The 600MW facility, which will produce so-called blue hydrogen by reforming methane and capturing the resulting carbon dioxide emissions, is being developed as part of the Zero Carbon Humber industrial cluster.
The three consortia led by KBR and Tecnimont, Technip Energies, and Linde through its businesses at Linde Engineering and BOC UK were selected through a six-month prequalification process. They will participate in a competition to provide pre-front end engineering and design proposals for the plant.
The plan is to select one of the contractors to move onto front end engineering and design at the end of 2022 in preparation for a final investment decision in 2023. The winner will also secure the option to provide engineering, procurement and construction.
Equinor said their design work will additionally support the delivery of a further 1,200MW of blue hydrogen production capacity.
The hydrogen will primarily be used to supply to fuel to the Keadby Hydrogen power station it is also planning to build in partnership with SSE Thermal as part of the Zero Carbon Humber project. Equinor claimed it will be the world’s first large-scale power station to run on 100% hydrogen.
The H2H Saltend is expected to being operating in 2026 to 2027, whilst the Keadby Hydrogen power station is expected to start running in 2028 to 2029.
“Equinor is dedicated to delivering Hydrogen to Humber (H2H) and to contributing to the development of the UK’s hydrogen economy through the H2H Saltend project and then expanding that experience with the Keadby Hydrogen project,” said Dan Sadler, Equinor vice president for UK low-carbon solutions.
“Producing hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS) provides a practical, scalable solution to decarbonise a wide range of sectors that currently depend on fossil fuel.”
Equinor project director for the H2H projects, Tanguy Cosmao, said: “The selected contractors are renowned for their engineering, procurement and construction and operating capabilities in the hydrogen/ammonia and carbon capture sector.
“Our execution strategy enables adoption of proven technology and cost competitive solutions for first-of-a-kind projects and early engagement of UK construction and service companies.”
The East Coast cluster – an amalgamation of the Zero Carbon Humber and Net Zero Teesside projects – was recently selected by the government to become one of the first two net-zero industrial clusters in line to receive funding for the construction of CCS infrastructure.